Everyone has that movie they simply can’t turn off when they come across it on television. Mine is the 2001 version of Oceans 11. On the surface the movie is a classic heist film about a group of swindlers who come together to pull off a grand theft in Las Vegas. However, to me, it is a blueprint for building a sports betting group.
The Art of a Sports Betting Group
When it comes to successful sports betting, it is very difficult to do it entirely on your own. You are going to need help. The Science of Sports Betting alone is a lot to try to master. Then comes the Art of Sports Betting which is just as important and can be even more time consuming. I’ve often said that in the pursuit of sharp betting a lot of time and effort is wasted in pursuing the pursuit. Leveraging a team to speed the process can benefit all members.
That’s where Oceans 11 comes in. George Clooney’s character, Danny, was fresh out on parole. He had a vision for his next big score, but knew he couldn’t do it alone. Obviously, I’m not condoning robbing a casino or sportsbook. We’re strictly talking legal methods here. However, leveraging a team can be an effective way to successfully remove large amounts of money from the vaults of a sportsbook.
The Team
Danny Ocean – The Dreamer
Every successful angle begins with an idea. A dream. You need someone to see the potential. For most people reading this article, you are Danny Ocean. Who among us hasn’t wanted to be George Clooney, right? You have the dream of wanting to beat the book. Perhaps you’ve even practiced reciting this monologue in your recruitment speech:
“Because the house always wins.
Play long enough, you never change the stakes,the house takes you.
Unless, when that perfect hand comes along, you bet big,
and then you take the house.”
Everyone has some Danny Ocean in them. That’s why you’re here, on this site, reading this article. Keep track of your ideas and dreams. Write them down. Circle back to them frequently. Don’t be concerned if some of your ideas are practical and some impractical. At least you have them. A good Dreamer understands everything that goes into sports betting and can see the big picture. Does your angle have potential for high tolerance from an unsuspecting sportsbook, or will they be onto it right away? Who else do you need to make this dream a reality? You’re going to need to think through the process. The Dreamer also recognizes who they need to help them.
Rusty Ryan – The Logistics Guy
Brad Pitt played Rusty, who was basically Danny Ocean’s Logistics Guy. He knew where to find all the pieces that helped build the team. Then he made sure all those pieces fit together. Knowing where to get what you need is a big part of the process. Don’t sleep on logistics. It is a key cog to turn a dream into a reality.
You need a Rusty to know how to pull the diverse parts of your sports betting group together. Organizing a team attack requires precision to avoid detection. Maybe there is travel involved, Rusty knows the best way to get people from point A to point B. Whether that be cheap airfare or travel hacks. Team communication is key. Your Logistics Guy knows the best way to get everybody on the same page. Rusty doesn’t need to be an expert sports bettor; he just needs to be an expert planner.
Livingston Dell – The Numbers Guy
You are going to need a Numbers Guy. When it comes to sports betting so much of what we do is merely taking advantage of quantified inefficiency. That means numbers. There are some sick perverse people out there that actually like math. Make friends with them. There are also some wizards that walk amongst us that can turn ideas into functional code to harness the power of computers. Make friends with them, too. Ideally, it’s the same person and you’ve got yourself a Numbers Guy.
Math and programming are common trades these days. However, sports betting is not. Programmers can be hired guns. There are plenty of websites where you can hire programmers on the cheap. However, finding a programmer that understands sports betting is a very tricky process. There are many intricacies and nuances to gambling that don’t translate well to a computer simulation.
If the thought of finding a Numbers Guy is daunting, you may only need to look in a mirror. We live in an age of boundless information and education. You can bootstrap your way into being a Numbers Guy if you’re willing to put in the work. YouTube, training sites, and resources abound. Learning how to apply math and programming to your sports betting knowledge makes you a more dangerous threat to a sportsbook.
Your Numbers Guy also helps in analyzing results and keeping everyone sane. When are results indicative of a flawed process or just a bad run of variance? Confidence Intervals, Z-score, Least Squares Regression – your Numbers Guy has the answers for you.
Linus Caldwell – The Scout
Before Matt Damon was soaring towards Mars and pitching crypto to us, he was Bobby Caldwell’s boy, Linus. His role in Oceans 11 was the to be The Scout. We all know the value in scouting. Anyone who relies on public information to find their treasure chests will spend all their days chasing rainbows.
The Scout finds new opportunities and puts together basic information relating to the play. The Scout tests theories and makes small wagers to see what tolerance abounds. He knows what the likely limits will be in-person, at a kiosk, or in an app for both known and unknown names. He knows PPH skins and which locals are connected to which larger-scale operations. The Scout also keeps close tabs with other players and teams. Not only see what they’re doing, but also to see what heat they’re encountering.
Without scouting, all the other key members of your team can’t do their jobs. The nice thing about The Scout is that he is often not a heat magnet. If you know someone with a lot of domain knowledge, but their limits are trashed, they may make a worthy Scout. The importance of having a good Scout is usually manifested in a first-mover advantage over other teams or over sportsbook countermeasures. By the time an angle gets well-known, your sports betting group has already marched the money out in a series of duffle bags with an X on the sides.
Reuben Tishkoff – The Bankroll
Sports betting requires a bankroll. In an ideal world, each member of your sports betting group brings an ample bankroll to the table so that an outside investor is not needed. Sometimes that’s not possible though. That’s when you need someone to help fund the operation. The incomparable Elliot Gould played Reuben Tishkoff, a former casino owner who had reason to want to seek vengeance against Terry Benedict’s casinos.
If your play needs a Reuben, you may want to look towards establishing a relationship with someone with money to burn but no need to bet on their own. There are many successful people who might find it thrilling to have an investment in a sports betting venture. The right person may even be able to provide some guidance and wisdom for your sports betting group.
Saul Bloom – The Whale
The other senior member of the Oceans 11 team was Saul Bloom played by Carl Reiner. He pretended to be Lyman Zerga, a high roller that the casino would fawn over. Many sportsbooks in this burgeoning environment are blinded by the dollar signs in their eyes. A few years ago the idea of having a VIP Host for sports betting clientele was laughable. Now, almost every functional US sportsbook has someone with that assignment.
If you can get someone solidified as a Whale in the eyes of the sportsbook, you’ve got plenty of runway in front of you. Famously, the great Billy Walters used to use celebrities to help him get money down with books all over the world. Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Ashton Kutcher, and others have all played the role of The Whale for a sports betting group at one time.
If you can find someone to play the role of The Whale on your sports betting group, you often solve that great barrier of getting the money down that has been the death of many teams.
Finding Your Oceans 11 Sports Betting Group
It seems like a lot of work to pull together people from diverse backgrounds and have them work synergistically on a team. Honestly, it is. However, that doesn’t mean it is not worth doing. It also doesn’t mean there aren’t shortcuts you can employ to help your process. The biggest advantages of Unabated provides are the leveling-up resources that we make available to all sports bettors.
Need A Numbers Guy?
For instance, how would you like to have Rufus Peabody as your Numbers Guy? He’s created an impressive suite of tools and easy-to-use calculators at our site that help quantify many things that can get you an edge at sports betting. These are resources that would take even the sharpest Numbers Guy quite a while to work up for your sports betting group. If you were to hire a Numbers Guy to do this, it would set you back a handsome sum. Among the things that our tools can quantify for you:
- What is the value of a half-point in the spread or total of the NFL, CFB, NBA, CBB, MLB, or NHL?
- Which line offers the better price between two different spreads or totals?
- Half-point values in 1st Half, 1st Quarter, 2nd Quarter, 3rd Quarter, 4th Quarter of NFL or CFB.
- What should the proper line be for each period of an NHL game given the game line?
- When should you hedge to optimize bankroll growth? and how much?
- Optimal in-game pricing for MLB, NBA, CBB, and soon NFL, and CFB.
- Season simulations to help identify value in NFL and soon CFB markets.
- Player performance simulators to help get the edge at player props for the NFL & NBA.
Beyond Rufus, we have a team of Data Scientists and Software Engineers producing these and other tools for our Premium Subscribers. It’s allowing many of our subscribers to unlock far more value from sports betting than they would have found on their own.
We also help you boost your own abilities as the Numbers Guy by offering an expanding series of video content. Our easy to follow videos are meant to help you learn new concepts and approaches to your quantitative modeling.
Need A Scout?
I’ve been at this racket for a while. I’ve made my living identifying and exploiting casino and sportsbook inefficiencies for a long while now. In the process, I’ve become very familiar with how sportsbooks operate; who operates them; how they are regulated by various states and jurisdictions. I’ve put some of that knowledge into articles, like this one.
However, I’m also constantly reachable via our popular and free sports betting Discord at Unabated. If you haven’t visited, stop by and introduce yourself to the community. I’m always willing to answer all questions. Premium Members have exclusive topic channels and livestreams which provide even more access to our shared knowledge. Our Discord is a great way to find people just like yourself who are looking to build and grow as sports bettors.
Need Inspiration?
Sometimes the hardest part about getting started is actually getting started. We want to be your betting companion at Unabated. From our revolutionary simulators to our ultra-fast Game Odds Screen with unique integrated tools. We’ve got a lot of great things in the works that we’ll continue rollout to the betting public. Look around our site and get inspired about all the different ways you could be beating these sports betting markets. We want to turn that inspiration into your aspiration to become a strong sports bettor. Perhaps you’ll meet and organize your Oceans 11 inspired sports betting group here at Unabated.
